


with you

by ninetynineclouds (foggydays)



Category: SF9 (Band)
Genre: ?? - Freeform, M/M, chanhee and hwiyoung are only mentioned briefly, rap competition!au, unbeta-ed like always sry, writesf9 birthday fic exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 04:19:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12548684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggydays/pseuds/ninetynineclouds
Summary: People think that Juho is just a rapper Youngbin had met on Four Steps. But he turns out to be more than that.





	with you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BooksandKpop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksandKpop/gifts).



> i am very very late and this turned out to be longer than i expected, but i hope that you enjoy reading this aimee!! all of this is for you!! i hope this is a nice belated birthday present ♡

It’s past two AM and it’s cold, they had just ended today’s filming for Four Steps. The only thing Youngbin wants right now is to go home, have a warm shower and head to bed because he’s been at the filming venue for hours and he’s exhausted. He still has to wait for Juho before he can head home, and the other is nowhere to be found. All his calls and texts were left unanswered. He doesn’t know how long he’s been waiting outside, but it’s been long enough for his legs to hurt from standing for a while now. Youngbin heaves a sigh and decides to head back inside to look for the younger.

There aren’t that many people inside, and from what Youngbin can tell, they’re all filming staff members. He doesn’t know where else Juho could be – surely, he hasn’t headed home yet because if he did, he would have told Youngbin beforehand so that he could head back right after filming as well. Youngbin blows a raspberry and decides to call the other again as he heads out through the nearest exit, a different one from earlier.

Just as he leaves, he hears familiar voices nearby. He hangs up when Juho doesn’t answer his call yet again and then he heads to where he hears the voices. It’s dark and the male cannot really see much, but he’s able to see the backs of two people and then later, something red stands out. Youngbin decides to take a few steps closer towards them and makes sure that he’s quiet so that they don’t notice his presence.

“You think you’re so good, don’t you?”

“You ain’t shit. You don’t even deserve to be here.”

Youngbin feels like he’s heard the voices many times, but he can’t quite pinpoint who exactly those voices belong to. He moves closer, and then much to his surprise, he sees Juho trapped between two male figures.

The male suddenly feels hot and he can feel his cheeks burning. When one of them is about to swing his clenched fist at Juho, all Youngbin sees is the same shade of red as Juho’s hair. He doesn’t stop to think, his body reacts first – before he knows it, the man is on the floor with blood on his lips and teeth, and his knuckles are aching. He recognizes the man as one of the contestants of the competition who just got eliminated. His name is Youngjun, and Youngbin realises that he was bothering Juho because he had lost to Juho earlier which caused him to be eliminated.

What a sore loser.

Youngbin still feels like he’s on fire and he can feel his fingernails dig through his skin from clenching his fist too hard. Juho grips his arm and softly says, “ _Hyung,_ don’t.”

At this, his head begins to clear and he cools down a little. He bends so that he’s closer to the rapper on the floor and with gritted teeth he says, “Don’t touch him with your filthy hands, or talk to him again, you hear me?”

“ _Hyung,_ stop. Let’s just go.”

“Why the fuck do you care anyway?” Youngbin hears the other rapper asking.

Yeah, why the fuck does Youngbin care? Juho is just another rapper that he’s met during this competition, right?

_What do they know?_

  
  


* * *

  
  


The first time they met wasn’t during Four Steps. In fact, they met about a year ago.

Youngbin had only started rapping when he was eighteen, but it wasn’t something he was very serious about at that time. Though he actually started being more passionate about it and wanted to make music a year after that. His first few posts were remixes of other rappers’ songs on SoundCloud, and soon after that someone had hit him up, telling him that he was good and had a lot of potential.

Then, as they were convinced that Youngbin was serious about what he does, they offered him to join their crew. The crew had five members after Youngbin was added. They all knew each other since middle school and they were two years older than Youngbin, but none of them had made him feel unwelcome when he had newly joined. They never showed that they were unhappy about the additional member. Instead, they were always willing to help Youngbin when he needed it. Now, Youngbin can safely say that they’re the closest friends he’s had – they’re more like his family.

Youngbin juggled between college, his part-time job at the record store near the campus, and performing at gigs with his crew. Sometimes it got tiring, but he always had lots of fun, and performing seemed to be something that could relief his stress. And if he ever got too busy because of the assignments that kept piling up, the crew members were always understanding when he couldn’t join them for a few gigs. Never have they made him feel bad about it. They wanted Youngbin to prioritize his studies before anything else.

As the years passed, more people started joining their crew. Youngkyun and Chanhee, the newest addition to their crew are six and seven years younger than him respectively. Watching Youngkyun and Chanhee play together make them feel old.

( “Feel old?” Chanhee had asked when Seungjun whined about it.

Then he cackled and continued, “You guys _are_ old.”

“Brat! Don’t come to me when you want chicken!” )

Though they’re young, they have immense talent and the older members of the crew were pleasantly surprised when they heard the both of them rap.

  
Youngbin and the crew went to a freestyle competition together to support two of the crew members who had joined. And that was the day Youngbin had met Juho.

Apparently, Juho was a strong contender, and his name was constantly being mentioned by the rappers around them. It seemed like he had participated in a few small competitions and managed to leave a strong impression on many. Youngbin hadn’t really heard of him before, but everyone who mentioned Juho had said that he was someone to look out for.

When Youngbin first saw Juho, he was… awestruck to say the least. Juho was extremely handsome in his eyes with his sharp features and charisma that oozed off him when he stepped on stage. He had a different aura from the others Youngbin had seen before him, and Youngbin found his confidence attractive. And the moment Juho began to rap his verse, Youngbin found that he simply could not take his eyes off the other.

It was then that Youngbin understood what everyone meant when they said Juho was someone to look out for. He inserted punchlines in his verses that could be hard to think of during a freestyling competition, and his lyrics always left people stunned and got them eliminated. In the end, he won the competition and got some prize money. Even Youngbin’s crew members who happened to be the best at freestyling amongst them couldn’t beat him.

The first thing Youngbin did when he headed home was to look for Juho’s social media accounts and find out if he had songs posted somewhere. He managed to find Juho’s Instagram and SoundCloud in less than fifteen minutes and he immediately pressed the follow button when he found it. It wasn’t hard since Juho happened to be popular. Before he went to sleep, he listened to all the songs that were posted on the other’s SoundCloud. There wasn’t anything that he didn’t like.

  
Surprisingly enough, Juho was the one who started talking to Youngbin first when he found that the older had followed him on Instagram. Youngbin had a great shock when he woke up to a notification on Instagram from the other. Apparently Juho had followed Youngbin for a while now, but Youngbin didn’t realize it.

 

 

**_zu_0704_ **

_ive listened to all ur songs on soundcloud too_

_theyre pretty dope dude_

_ur whole crew’s amazing_

 

**_kimyoung.b_ **

_ah thank u sm!!_

_are u for real_

_ure too nice ㅠㅠ_

_i actually listened to all ur songs last night_

_i saw u at the competition yesterday_

_u really left a great impression_

 

**_zu_0704_ **

_im not too nice im just being honest!!_

_im rlly ur fan_

_wait seriously??_

_!!!!!_

_thank u!! was nervous tbh ahh and i kinda blanked out a bit_

_but thank u rlly im honoured ㅠㅠㅠ_

 

**_kimyoung.b_ **

_ahh thank u sm then ㅠㅠㅠㅠ_

_nervous?? that was u being nervous?? u kinda blanked out too???_

_what kind of monster,,,_

_i could never_

 

They spent the whole day talking to each other, and their conversations later on became more about their personal lives than discussions on music. Instagram DMs transitioned to exchanging numbers and talking on KaKao Talk, then adding each other on Snapchat as well.  Youngbin had honestly expected for them to only be talking for a short while, but they had easily gotten along so well that they hadn’t talked non-stop since the first time Juho had hit him up. They talked pretty much every single day since then.

Juho is three years younger than Youngbin and he was still studying in university, majoring in music when they got to know each other. Youngbin found out through their conversations that Juho had picked up rapping when he was twelve years old because his older brother had listened to hip hop and he liked everything the older male had blasted in his room. He only started posting on SoundCloud when he turned sixteen, but Youngbin noticed that  he had deleted his old works. Youngbin had whined about it and asked Juho to let him listen to them, but the younger always either told him that he couldn’t or ignored him.

Youngbin also noticed that Juho already has a fanbase. It wasn’t huge, but decent especially for someone who’s an underground rapper. It’s probably because he was always performing and winning at small competitions. And not to mention that he’s really good looking too. Youngbin just couldn’t figure out how he had never heard of or seen Juho before the freestyle competition when Juho was pretty well known.

The first time they really met was two months after they started talking. Juho was always swarmed with his school projects and other commitments, so it was hard for them to pick a day when they were both free. The younger visited him at the record store when his shift nearly ended, and Youngbin found it a little cute how Juho was so shy to go up to him. It was a completely different image as compared to when Youngbin had first seen him on stage.

“Why are you so shy? You weren’t like this when you were rapping the other day,” Youngbin had teased the other as they both headed out the record store together. Juho looked intimidating, but on that day, he was actually nowhere near it.

“Ah, _hyung…_ ” Juho whined, to which Youngbin had laughed.

 

Time passed quickly when they hung out together, Youngbin thought. Juho was great company, and Youngbin found that he loved being around the other. Eventually he stopped being so shy later that day, but occasionally Youngbin just liked to tease him for fun because it was amusing to see how the younger male would react to his teasing.

Because they got along so well, they were always trying to make time for each other so that they can meet up. Soon enough, they just hung out at each other’s places because they’d be too tired from juggling all their commitments. Ramen, video games and one another’s company were enough for them when they stay in. Sometimes Juho would even let Youngbin listen to few of the things that he’s been working on and they’d discuss on what should be done to make it better. Most of the time Youngbin found that there wasn’t really anything much about his songs that needed to be altered.

  
But of course, after hanging around each other so much and finding that they enjoyed being around one another, feelings began to develop between them. Though neither of them actually made a move. They would ignore the way their heart would leap when their hands accidentally brush, or the way they’d soften up just at the sight of each other or receiving a KaKao Talk message after a shitty day. There were times Juho would _think_ that Youngbin was flirting, but then he’d brush it off after and tell himself that he was being ridiculous. The same thing would happen to Youngbin too. They just refused to believe that they were flirting with each other.

It was only when Youngbin noticed Juho’s newer songs had romantic meanings behind it that they finally opened up about their feelings. Juho’s lyrics had given hints about the way he felt about Youngbin, and it was then that Youngbin started to think about the other things Juho had said to him previously. He had a hunch that their feelings were mutual when he began noticing things that he didn’t think too much of before he listened to Juho’s songs.

“Hey Juho, who have you been writing about in your songs these days?”

“What?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your lyrics. You like someone don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s okay, I know who you were writing about anyway. Just so you know, I like you too.”

“What?”

“I said I like you too.”

Youngbin thought he’d die of embarrassment and was already thinking about what he should do if he was wrong about Juho’s feelings towards him, but when Juho’s cheeks and ears turned into a shade of crimson, he knew that he was right. How lucky.

And since then, they’ve been secretly dating.

 

 

Youngbin never planned to join Four Steps. He wasn’t really into those things, and in addition, joining Four Steps meant that he’d be on television. The male wasn’t so fond of that and he knows that rap competitions that’d air on television would make him feel more burdened and pressured. He doesn’t like forcing ideas out of himself either because he knows that the result wouldn’t turn out the way he’d wanted.

However, his crew members had urged him to sign up for it and audition, telling him to put himself out there especially since he has the skills. And a few of them were already planning to audition as well. They said that the crew could possibly gain more recognition, and the experience would help them out in the future. They also mentioned something about gaining more connections and more gigs or other benefits after they joined. Sure it seemed like there were going to be a lot of pros, but Youngbin was still adamant about not wanting to join the competition. He thought the others joining would’ve been enough.

Juho on the other hand, found that Four Steps was a golden opportunity for him to get more recognized, like Youngbin’s crew had thought. At that time, Juho had been on a semi hiatus because he couldn’t get inspired, and he was also a little unmotivated. He thought that joining would get him back on the game and the pressure would motivate him to do better. He also wanted to gain exposure in hopes that he would improve.

When Juho had told Youngbin about his plans on auditioning for the competition, the older male was somewhat surprise. He didn’t think that Juho would be the type to do it, but he was still very supportive towards the younger.Unsurprisingly, Juho had been the one to convince Youngbin to join the competition. He didn’t exactly pester the other as much as his crew members had but somehow, he made Youngbin hear him out. The male had eventually thought that it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“What’s the worst that could happen? There’s really more to gain than lose,” Juho had told him.

  


It’s not so surprising that when they joined Four Steps, people considered them to be rivals. They’re both overflowing with talent and amazing at what they do. They gained so much attention, more than they had expected to receive. The amount of fans they got during Four Steps and the screen time they had gotten shocked them. Especially Youngbin, since he had only reluctantly joined and didn’t show up with expectations.

It was funny though, how people considered them as rivals. The show was constantly trying to pit them against each other even though they never really talked to or about one another during the competition. They’d be on Youngbin’s couch, snuggled up against each other as they watch the episode air, and they’d laugh when they notice that the show had edited it in a way that made it seem there was drama between them.

Pehaps it was easy for people to perceive that they didn’t get along well because they didn’t talk much to each other during the competition. During the first few episodes when people began to consider them as rivals, the show would edit one of the two ‘glaring’ at the other while he’s performing and insert a ridiculous caption that would add fuel to the fire. In reality, they’d just be constantly staring into space or focusing intently on something.

Eventually they gave up trying to stir up drama because they didn’t have much content to use against them and make it seem like they were enemies. And to annoy them further, they’ve always said nice things about one another during interviews.

“What do you think of Juho? Do you think you can beat him if you two are going to battle against each other?” they had asked Youngbin during the interview.

Youngbin had hummed and said, “He’s talented, and he isn’t an easy competitor. Honestly, I don’t wish to challenge him. You wouldn’t want to be up against someone who’s really good, right? But if the show makes us battle, I won’t go easy on him.”

He noticed the staffs behind the camera didn’t really have a good expression when he said it. He knew that they hoped he would say something that’d make him seem as if he disliked Juho. But he wasn’t going to satisfy them. He had offered them a cheeky grin when he left the room.

“You’re my boyfriend and I love you, but I won’t go easy on you too. You know how much I hate losing,” Juho had said when he watched that snippet of Youngbin’s interview.

“I don’t like losing either babe. This is war.”

They didn’t really get to battle against each other though. The only time they ‘battled’ was when Youngbin’s team was competing against Juho’s and two members of the losing team were to be eliminated (spoiler: Youngbin’s team had won, and he kept rubbing it on Juho’s face when they were together after filming). But they never really had a real rap battle against one another which they thought was surprising since they were considered rivals and the show would have probably pulled something to make them compete.

No one knew that they were dating, not even Youngbin’s crew. It was frustrating sometimes because Youngbin would hear other rappers badmouthing Juho and spreading false rumours, and he couldn’t do much about it because Juho wouldn’t want him to do anything. He’d still defend Juho but it was pretty lowkey.

There was even a  time when he’d hear inappropriate comments about Juho coming from the others. Juho had heard everything but they didn’t notice his presence. He told them off and embarrassed them in front of the others because he couldn’t tolerate it. That was when they knew not to mess with him anymore.

 

 

* * *

  
  
  
  
Youngbin didn’t expect the members of his crew to be eliminated before him. He thought that they’d last longer since they seemed to be more talented than he was. But Youngbin lasted the longest amongst them, though he isn’t going to be competing in the Finals. He supposes that if he had joined with a different mindset, he probably could have gotten that far. But it was too late, and he had just gotten eliminated earlier. It’s been an enjoyable journey, even though there were times where he was on the brink of giving up due to the pressure and stress. But Youngbin knows he doesn’t regret participating.

His significant other is quiet next to him. Juho is staring out the window, but Youngbin knows he’s not focusing on whatever’s going on outside; he’s deep in his thoughts. Youngbin leaves him be, he knows that Juho doesn’t want to talk to him right now especially after what happened earlier. He did something wrong, though to be honest, he doesn’t regret punching Youngjun for what he did to Juho. He finds the younger male a little scary when he’s mad. He doesn’t really blow up right away. Instead, he becomes quiet and difficult to approach – Youngbin would prefer getting yelled at.

When the traffic light turns red, Youngbin reaches for Juho’s hands. Juho jumps a little, startled by Youngbin’s touch but he doesn’t look at the older. Youngbin stares at him and rubs small circles on the back of his hand in hopes that Juho would feel better. It does, because Juho heaves a sigh and interlock their fingers. Youngbin brings Juho’s hand closer to him and then presses a kiss on it. He knows Juho isn’t mad at him any longer when he sees the curve of his lips quirk up ever so slightly.

Youngbin regretfully pulls his hand away when the light turns green. But Juho puts his hand on his thigh, and Youngbin thinks that’ll do too.

“I’m sorry for what I did earlier. I know you don’t like it, but I just couldn’t let them do that to you.”

“It’s fine. As long as you know. I would’ve been fine on my own earlier, I know how to stand up for myself _hyung_. But… thank you.”

“I know.”

It’s silent again for a moment. Youngbin decides to shift the topic and say, “Anyway, you’re going to the Finals. I knew you were gonna the moment you told me you were joining, but I’m still proud of you.”

“I’m proud of you too, _hyung._ Pity that we didn’t have a diss battle against each other at all though,” Juho says teasingly.

“We both know who’d win. Yeah, me.”

“Oh no. Now that you’re getting older, you’re becoming delusional.”

“You’re sleeping on the floor tonight.”

“We’ll see.”

  
  


In the waiting room, Juho is continuously practicing his verses so that he doesn’t forget his lyrics when he’s on stage. It’s the finals, he doesn’t want to be messing up when his journey is about to end. He’s nervous, and he’s afraid that he might blank out later when he sees the crowd below him. Even when he’s performed many times in front of people, the nerves never seem to go away.

D-Day came quicker than he had expected. He doesn’t feel like he had a week and a half  to prepare for the whole performance, but thankfully he managed to complete preparing for everything on time. He thinks that he doesn’t mind it if he doesn’t go home as the winner today. What truly matters to him is that he performs well. He’s been doing good for rehearsals, and he hopes that he performs just as well or better later on.

The show is about to begin, and Juho wonders if his boyfriend is already at the venue waiting. Youngbin doesn’t even know what Juho is going to perform later. Juho refused to show him even though he had offered to do whatever Juho wanted if he did. It was tempting, but Juho wanted Youngbin to wait like everyone else.  
  
**_  
_ ** ****

**_Youngbin_ **  
_why can i feel u stressing out all the way from here_  
_stop practicing for a while_  
_go and give urself a break_  
_u’ll be amazing babe i believe in u_  
  
**_Juho_ **  
_why do u know me so well_  
_u know me too well_  
_i just really dont wanna mess up_  
  
**_Youngbin_ **

_u know me just as well too_  
_u wont!!_  
_u’ve practiced so hard for this_  
_u’ll be fine, don’t worry too much_  
_im proud of u for making it this far_  
  
**_Juho_ **  
_okay_  
_thank u_  
_love u_  
  
**_Youngbin_ **  
_i love u too_  
looking forward to ur performance!!!!

 

“Hey, you good?” His mentor asks when he enters the waiting room. Juho nods and shifts to the other end of the couch to make space for the other.

“You’ll be great. You did well earlier. If you performed like you did during rehearsals, it’ll all be fine.”

“Thank you. It’s going to be hard performing after Seyoung though.”

Seyoung is a good rapper, and his performances are always fun to watch. Other rappers will have to make sure that their performances are as fun as his if they’re going up after him, or even more hyped. It’s a lot of pressure on Juho, but he supposes that it’s somewhat a good thing because he tends to do even better when he’s pressured. 

“Nah, you’re better than him. He’s good, but you’re better.”

Juho snorts. “You’re just saying that because you’re my mentor and you want me to win too.”

The other laughs with his head thrown back and then says, “You’re partially right. But I really think you have a lot of talent and potential. You’re better than a lot of the rappers here and you’ve been improving after every performance. You’ll definitely win.”

“If you say so.”

 

  
  
Juho’s mentor was right about the male being talented and having a lot of potential. He’s right about Juho being better than most of the rappers who had participated on Four Steps as well. But unfortunately, he wasn’t when he said that Juho would win.

He isn’t upset about the fact that he lost – maybe a little, but he’s also satisfied that he had gotten second place. He doesn’t have regrets either. He had enjoyed every bit of it, and he thinks that he hasn’t had that much fun on stage in a while.

“You really didn’t have to get me flowers,” Juho says. Youngbin briefly looks at him and grins, and then he focuses on the road again.

"I wanted to. You were so amazing earlier. I think it’s one of your best performances, really.”

The younger smiles. The comment means a lot, considering how much effort he had put in for it. He had many sleepless nights and had spent many hours staring at the computer. It feels so good and rewarding to hear that now.

It had been a tough journey, but he got to experience it with Youngbin as well. He never regretted joining the competition. If anything, he feels that Four Steps will be something that he’ll remember for a long time and when he looks back, he’ll wish that he gets to experience it again.

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, babe. I loved it so much. And you looked so stunning. It’s definitely a yes from me.”

Juho’s cheeks heat up, and he’s glad that it’s dark because Youngbin wouldn’t be able to see and tease him for it.

“Where are you bringing me anyway?”

“You’ll see.”

Turns out that Youngbin had prepared a picnic for Juho at Han River. It’s late, but he doesn’t mind it. He likes being out at night better than the day anyway. There’s balloons, fairy lights, Juho’s favorite foods, and in the middle, there’s a cake with ‘happy 100 days’ on it with red icing.

_Oh wait – shit._

“ _Hyung,_ oh my god. I’m so sorry I forgot about it.”

“It’s okay, I know you’ve been pretty busy preparing for Four Steps. I just wanted to surprise you for both our 100 days together and getting second place!”

“I feel so bad, I’m so so sorry. When did you have the time to prepare all of this anyway?”

Youngbin scratches the back of his head and grins cheekily. “I didn’t. The crew helped me out, so I owe them now.”

“Oh, so they know that we’re dating then? What did they say?”

Juho had a feeling that they wouldn’t be too surprised by it though. They didn’t exactly try their hardest to hide their relationship, and Youngbin’s crew members weren’t so dense either. The youngest one especially, Chanhee, caught on things pretty fast.

“They knew about it from the start. They just acted like they were shocked at first though. But you know how Chanhee is. Anyway, I’m hungry. Let’s cut the cake.”

Later that night, Youngbin uploads a picture on Instagram of Juho getting cake smeared on his nose and cheeks with the caption ‘Congrats on getting second place, hyung is so proud of you!! In my eyes, you’ll always be the winner. And happy 100 days to us!! ♡’

“That caption… You’re so cheesy,” Juho says after Youngbin had uploaded the picture. He snuggles closer against the older male and presses a kiss on Youngbin’s cheek.

“I’m going to sleep. Goodnight, _hyung._ Update me about the comments tomorrow.”

“I’ll show you. Goodnight, sleep well.”

 

 

**_hee.sun28394_ **

_heol… 100 days already?? this is the most shocking news i’ve heard.._

**_u.w____ **

_u two are dating?!?!?! amazing… congrats to u both and to juho too ^^_

**_park.w_13_ **

_ㅋㅋㅋㅋ this is so funny… they were dating all this while when we thought they didn’t like each other when the first few episodes aired... congrats!!_

**_ilovebaekjuho_ **

_so happy for u guys!!! happy 100 days!!_

**_qwertyui1234_ **

_heol….kinda sad that juho oppa is taken but congrats♡_

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> prompt: rappers who compete against each other in competition but secretly date
> 
> thank you for reading!! also, do join us at [writesf9](https://writesf9.tumblr.com/) we are more than happy to welcome more members to the writing network!! :)


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